On this day, 117 years ago, on September 17, 1908 (August 22, 1908), the first plane crash death occurred. Watchers at Fort Meyer run to the aid of Orville-Wright and Lieutenant Selfridge. On September 17, 1908, Lieutenant Thomas-E-Selfridge of the U.S. Army Communications Corps was killed in a plane crash flown by Orville-Wright. Selfridge, then 26, was the first person to die in a plane crash since the Wright brothers ushered in a new era of aviation. Orville-Wright was seriously injured but is expected to recover. The plane crash happened at Fort Meyer, Virginia. Orville-Wright had been there for a series of flights to prove that the plane met the requirements set by the U.S. Department of Defense. He and Selfridge took off at 5:14 p.m. that day in front of 2,000 spectators, the largest number of people to watch the flight. The twin-engine plane flew three times around the review field where it took off. At this point, a blade of the left propeller broke. The plane dived down 75 feet and hit the ground. Selfridge, with a fractured skull, did not wake up. He died at 8:10 p.m. Defense Secretary Rookie Wright said the accident would not stop the Army's flight tests.